During the four weeks of this course the article “Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning” has been the most informative for me. It has also caused me to question how I teach more then any article I have read during my time at Lamar. One statement stood out to me more then any other this week, “They found that scores supposedly based on content alone were strongly influenced by the expressive medium.” (Rose, 2002) This statement goes completely against the world of high stakes standardized testing. While we have a few accommodations for dyslexia and special education students, overall the test is taken exactly the same by all students. I have student’s that get strait A’s all year barely pass the TAKS and others who barely pass my class ace the TAKS. Technology gives us the ability to test students by different mediums. “Digital tools and media make it possible to design ongoing assessments that support individual differences in recognition, strategic, and affective networks, giving us a more accurate measure of students' achievement in relation to the learning goal.” (Rose, 2002) If we created a standardized test where student’s can be grouped by their abilities and test that way, I feel we would see scores go up. For example I can test the water cycle through several different means. The artistic students can draw a picture, the readers can use multiple choice, and the writers can explain the water cycle in a story. We as teachers just need to make sure they understand the concept. This would allow all students an equal opportunity when taking a test. The issue that comes up now is how do we grade all of them in the large number that a statewide standardized test produces. Reference: Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved from Http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/
Reference:
Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved from Http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/